How will Biden change border policy amid push from Democrats?

Group of House Democrats is urging Biden to use all tools to secure border
Former ICE director: 'Most of these Democrats are facing tough elections'
Biden administration plans to propose speeding up asylum claims process

Updated: May 8, 2024 / 06:58 PM CDT

(NewsNation) — A group of House Democrats wrote a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to use all the tools at his disposal to secure the southern border, including taking executive action.

“Most of these Democrats are facing tough elections, and I think they want to be seen as doing something about this issue and putting pressure on the administration,” said John Sandweg, the former acting ICE director in the Obama administration.

Sandweg joined “NewsNation Now” to discuss the pressure on Biden as the crisis at the southern border becomes a top issue for voters in the 2024 election.

Biden declined to say whether he would take executive action at the border, but it’s something the administration has been weighing behind the scenes.

The White House previously joined with a bipartisan group in the Senate to put forward significant reforms that would put caps on the number of daily asylum claims, along with some reforms that would be similar to those instituted under the Trump administration. That bill was ultimately killed in the House.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see if the president now tries to unilaterally adopt some of the provisions that were set forth in that bill. And there’s been some signs coming out of the White House that they’re strongly considering it,” Sandweg said.

The Biden administration now plans to propose a new rule Thursday aimed at speeding up the asylum claims process for some migrants — a potential prelude to broader actions from President Joe Biden later this year that would impose a bigger crackdown at the border.

“There are also a lot of more progressive Democrats calling on the administration to enact some reforms that will help legalize undocumented individuals who have been in this country a long time. I wouldn’t be surprised to see if the administration tries to roll out its own bipartisan bill through administrative action, where it takes some tough steps at the border but at the same time makes some moves in the interior to help some of these people who have been in this country a long time,” Sandweg said.